Who We Are
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Daryl/Beth.. He shrugged, looking at her and even in the darkness of the porch, she could see the blue of his eyes. "Rick got what he wanted. A safe place for his kids and for everyone else, too. None of 'em need me anymore." And Beth opened her mouth to tell him that that wasn't true; that she needed him.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not sure if this is going to lead to a longer story. For the moment, it's just going to be an one-shot.**

* * *

…

Maggie wanted Beth to come sleep in the house she and Glenn had but Beth shook her head and took a step back as if the words themselves had hurt her somehow. She looked over her shoulder then, to Daryl as he stood on the porch, a small distance away from everyone else but his eyes sharply watching everything; watching _her_ and she looked at him for a moment before looking back to Maggie.

She wanted to say something but she didn't know what. She didn't know how to say anything anymore. In the hospital, she learned to choose her words carefully but sometimes, they would blow out of her before she could stop herself and she would receive the consequences. Here, back with her family, she knew she could say what she wanted and the most she would get would be wounded looks and hurt feelings. No one would ever beat her again. But she looked at Maggie and there was so much to say and yet, the words didn't even form on her tongue to speak.

In the end, she just shook her head. "I want to stay outside."

Maggie, of course, protested until Glenn put a hand on her elbow, quieting her with a slight shake of his head. She sighed and kept looking at Beth but Beth was no longer looking at her. She wasn't looking at them. She instead had her eyes focused on the quiet street. She heard laughter coming from somewhere and a dog barking and she couldn't believe that this place was real. What was this place? Was it safe? It must have been if the others had acclimated themselves here; if _Daryl _had.

She looked to him again. He was looking at her but he still made no move to be anywhere near her. He hadn't said anything to her since they had driven into the gates of Alexandria – her on the back of his motorcycle and his arms around his waist as Morgan had ridden in the car behind them with the man with Daryl – and had taken them straight to his house which he shared with Rick, Michonne, Carl and _Judith_. The baby was alive and well – they all were alive and well – and she had nearly collapsed from it all.

From there, they had met the woman in charge – Deanna, the woman seeming to be extremely happy to meet her for some reason – and then Daryl had taken her to see the rest of their family and it was all so emotional and overwhelming, Beth felt her head spinning and she just needed a few minutes to herself. But Maggie wouldn't stop crying or clinging to her and it wasn't as if Beth wasn't happy to see her sister – she was – but Maggie was completely suffocating her at the moment.

"Daryl's been sleeping on the porch most nights," Rick spoke up and again, Beth's eyes went to the man who stood on the outer fringes of their group.

She looked at him and remembered seeing him in the hospital hallway, the way his eyes had locked with hers and hadn't looked away, the way his hand grazed over her shoulder when she stepped forward the first time only to turn back towards Dawn. And she remembered nothing else after that except waking up in the hospital once more with Dr. Edwards standing at her bedside and she had instantly asked about him because she couldn't believe that Daryl had just left her.

When Daryl and the other man – Aaron – had come upon her and Morgan in the woods that early morning – had it really only been that morning? – Daryl had stared at her as if he had just seen a ghost. And she knew that that was why he had left. He had thought she was dead. And why wouldn't he think that? She had gotten shot in the head right in front of him. Dr. Edwards had mentioned a herd moving through but he hadn't been able to explain that much but the instant she saw Daryl again, she was able to piece together most of it.

She just didn't know why now, he seemed to want to be nowhere near her. And she knew that he was probably the only one she could stand to be around right now.

The group broke up shortly after that, all giving her one more hug or kiss on the head and they dispersed back to their own houses until she and Daryl were the only ones to remain on the porch. She had noticed a few missing from the group – Tyreese, Noah, and she had seen Sasha wearing Bob's jacket – but she hadn't asked about them, knowing what the answers already were.

She glanced at Daryl before she slowly moved and sat herself down on the porch. She had taken a shower and had been given some new clothes. Fresh underwear and socks – clean and soft cotton against her skin and she had sighed with pleasure when she pulled them on – and blue jeans and a yellow sweater. She smelled like soap and fabric softener and she had never thought she would smell like either of those things ever again. It was all too good to be true and her mind was still racing with everything that had happened in less than twenty-for hours. She was expecting herself to wake up any second now.

She heard a creak of wood as Daryl stepped behind her and then he was sitting down beside her. With it just the two of them again, he was putting himself next to her and she felt like she could breathe. She turned her head and looked at him. His hair was still long and in need of a cut and he still wore his leather vest but he smelled like soap, too.

"What is this place?" She asked him softly.

He shook his head and popped a cigarette into his mouth but he didn't light it. "Still tryin' to figure that out," he said. He then looked at her, too. "Rick and Carol have been talkin' 'bout takin' it for ourselves."

That made her frown, her brow wrinkling as she looked at him. "That's not who we are," she said and all she could think of in that moment was the Governor and those who came with him, ready to take the prison for themselves, and her daddy…

"I know," Daryl nodded and he lowered his eyes as if thinking the same thing, too. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and rolled it between his fingers.

He used to do that when they were out there – just the two of them. He only had one cigarette left and sometimes, he would pull it out, put it in his mouth, take it out again, hold it. He never lit it; never knew when they would find another one but just feeling it seemed to calm him down in a way nothing else other than her could manage.

She smiled when she saw he still did that though she knew Alexandria probably had more cigarettes. They seemed to have everything. It was both incredible and too good to be true and she couldn't help but be suspicious of everything around her right now. Except Daryl. Even being reunited with their family, she felt like the only real thing was Daryl sitting right next to her.

"Don't think I'm gonna go along with 'em if they do it," he then grunted.

"You won't," she said softly, shifting a little closer to him. "You're better than that." He snorted at that and she reached over without a second thought, slipping one of her hands in his. "_You are_," she said strongly. He didn't pull his hand from hers and she gave it a slight squeeze. "I don't know if I want to stay here," she then admitted to him softly because if she could say something like that to anyone, it was Daryl.

And she knew she hadn't been there long at all yet – not even twenty-four hours – but unease had settled in her stomach that she couldn't shake. She was nervous around so many people now; nervous around her _family_ because they were all different. _She_ was different. She had begun to change out there – before the hospital. With Daryl. Being back with Daryl, it only reminded her just how much.

He slipped the cigarette back into his pocket with one hand, his other still encased in hers. "Got a new bike. We could leave whenever you wanted."

She looked at him and couldn't help but be surprised. "You would leave here?" She asked, her fingers subconsciously tightening around his.

He shrugged, looking at her and even in the darkness of the porch, she could see the blue of his eyes. "Rick got what he wanted. A safe place for his kids and for everyone else, too. None of 'em need me anymore."

And Beth opened her mouth to tell him that that wasn't true; that she needed him. But the words clumped in her throat before she could but he was looking at her and she got the feeling that maybe he already knew.

She had almost forgotten how well they had gotten at reading one another.

He squeezed her hand back. And he didn't need to tell her that he needed her, too.

…

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**To be honest, I've been having a hard time over the past couple of days writing Daryl and Beth and this story was only intended to be an one-shot but another idea came to me in regards to this so I wrote it. I've missed ZA Daryl/Beth. **

* * *

…

She knew Aaron and Eric were good people the instant she officially met them. And they both just seemed to absolutely adore Daryl and because she supposed she was an extension of him at the moment, they adored her, too. They were invited for dinner – just the two of them – and when Daryl just entered the house without knocking, she realized that he had been here many times before that.

She was relieved at that and the way he was at obvious ease around the couple. She had been back with him – and the rest of their family – for two days and it was obvious to her within the first few minutes that so many things had changed now. She knew they had all been through things – things that they never spoke of and things that had changed them forever – but she found herself weary around them now. She recognized them all and yet, at the same time, these people weren't her family. Not the family she knew and loved and trusted. They had all changed and not necessarily for the better.

They had picked up some new members along the way and Beth didn't know them – and she admitted that she wasn't eager to know them – and the rest… she didn't know them anymore either. They were cold and untrustworthy – and rightly so – but they also had this air of superiority to them that they knew all and everything they did was now justified. She remembered what Daryl had said – how could she forget? – about Rick and Carol wanting to take Alexandria for themselves and she just hoped she was far from here when they made their move.

And after being so close to Rick for so long, the two as close as any brothers, it was amazing to her that Daryl was slowly separating himself from him; that Daryl was able to see that the path Rick was taking was not one he wanted to take for himself.

"Has Deanna given you a job yet?" Aaron asked as he handed her a glass of red wine.

She looked at it for a moment in her hand as if not quite believing that she was holding an actual glass of wine and she lifted her eyes, immediately finding Daryl's as he was looking at her, too. The last time she had alcohol, it had been with him, too, and she knew he was thinking about the same thing – too much moonshine and sitting on the porch and burning a house down. It almost looked like he wanted to smile and she smiled faintly around the rim of her glass before she took a small sip.

"Rick had told her how good I am with children but Deanna seemed unsure. She seemed to think that my scars might scare them," Beth admitted and she felt as ashamed as she had, saying it now, as she had when she first told Daryl earlier.

And just like earlier, when he had heard it for the first time, Daryl looked furious. His eyes clouded over and his jaw clenched and Beth did her best to give him a small smile to show him that it was alright even if it wasn't. It was just another reminder that she didn't like this place and didn't want to stay here.

"What scars?" Eric smiled at her and she looked at the man, melting into a smile.

"Beth, do you like mushrooms?" Aaron asked, swiftly changing the subject. "We have chicken in a wild mushroom sauce for dinner. Do you think you would like that?"

And just as when he had handed her the wine, Beth blinked for a moment in surprise. She knew Alexandria was different. Paradise on earth, her daddy probably would have called it. She stood in the living room of nice home wearing a dress with shaved legs and her hair styled in curls and pinned back and she was sipping wine and listening to the menu as if she was at some dinner party and the world hadn't ended just fifty feet away on the other side of that wall.

It was all too good to be true and she told herself that she shouldn't get used to this because she wouldn't be staying. Her mama had said that if something was too good to be true, that was because it probably was. Alexandria appeared to be perfect on the outside but this place would fall as every other place had. The world just wasn't meant for people anymore.

"That sounds wonderful," Beth remembered to answer, giving a small smile.

"Speaking of, I need to go check to make sure it hasn't burned," Eric said and then turned, quickly leaving the room.

Aaron made steps to follow him but stopped beside Daryl, saying something in too low of a voice for Beth to hear. Whatever it was though, Daryl grunted in response and Aaron snickered quietly to himself before following after his partner, leaving Beth and Daryl alone in the living room.

"They're wonderful," she said quietly as if she didn't want them to overhear.

"They're a'right," he shrugged and she giggled softly because who they both knew he thought more than that of those two men. Who would have thought that Daryl Dixon would have become such good friends with a gay couple?

He took a greedy swig from his own wine glass and she turned to look at the books lining the shelf. Her fingers slowly swept across the cracked and worn spines and she didn't realize how much she had missed reading until that moment. She took a sip of wine and she couldn't decide whether she liked it or not. When she turned back, she almost gasped because Daryl was standing closer to her than before.

"Sorry," he mumbled and quickly took a step back.

"No," she said softly and reached out for his hand, taking it, pulling him back even closer and he was in her personal space but she didn't care because it was _him. _She tilted her chin up so she could look into his face and his eyes were staring down at her, silently penetrating hers. "Are you alright?" She asked in a near-whisper.

He nodded and when he spoke, it was in a near-whisper, too, matching her volume as if they were talking of some secret for only the two of them and maybe they were.

"I'm startin' to get some stuff together. For when we leave," he added, his eyes never moving away from her. "You still wanna leave?"

She didn't even hesitate in nodding her head. "Do you? I don't want to force you, Daryl. I survived out there when I had to. I can do it again."

"Not forcin' me into anythin', Beth," he said. From the corner of her eye, she saw him lift his hand as if he was going to touch her but he dropped it again before he could. "I ain't lettin' you out of my sight again."

She shook her head slightly and swallowed as if her throat was dry. "I don't want to leave you either. Not again."

Daryl lifted his hand and this time, he didn't stop himself from touching her cheek, his thumb brushing across her scar so lightly, if she hadn't watched him do it, she would have thought she had imagined it. She felt her heart do a small flip.

She wondered when they had both gotten like this; comfortable to touch one another and stand so close, their chests almost touched. She wondered if it was because of what had happened in that hospital hallway or if it was the funeral home. So much seemed to have happened in that funeral home even if they had only been there for a couple of days before she was taken. If she hadn't been taken, would this point between them have been reached anyway – just sooner?

There were still so many things she wanted to tell him. About before. About after. But she didn't know how and she knew that she couldn't keep things to herself in this world – especially with everything having the possibility of changing within a split second – but she didn't know how to say anything because there was still a part in the back of her mind that told her this was Daryl Dixon.

"When we get home tonight, I'll show you what I got so far. See if you wanna add anythin'," he said.

She smiled. "Alright."

She was curious to see what Daryl had packed for them. Knowing him, a lot of knives and bolts. She smiled faintly at the thought and his hand slowly slipped from her face. But it only made her step as close to him as he could and kept looking up at him. Somehow, even bathed, he looked dirty and with everything around her spinning and changing, Daryl stood there and was still him. He was the only still thing in constant motion and Beth wanted to be still, too, with him.

"Have you told anyone?" He asked and she saw the relief he expressed in his eyes when she shook her head.

"When will we?" She wondered.

"Day 'fore we leave, I guess," he shrugged. "There'll be a lot of questions."

"I won't exactly blame them," she admitted. "To leave all of this to go back out there doesn't make much sense."

Daryl shrugged. "They don't have to understand it. Just as long as none of them are gonna change your mind."

That made her smile and she shook her head. "Nothing is going to stop me from leaving here with you. I'm going to be with you."

He stared at her and said nothing to that. It was said in a quiet voice but it was a bold declaration. Even she was surprised with herself for having said such a thing but she didn't attempt to take it back. It was the truth and too much had already happened to not want to always tell the truth. There might never be another chance to and they had to grab these moments as they came.

A throat cleared behind them and they both turned to see Eric standing in the entryway between the living room and the dining room with a large grin on his face.

"Dinner is served," he announced.

Beth smiled in return and as she walked towards the table, Daryl walked behind her and she swore that she could feel his fingertips brushing across the small of her back.

…

* * *

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Everyone will find out in the next chapter of Beth and Daryl's plan to leave Alexandria. Also, this is a very short story - probably just about ten chapters. It's really just a way for me to get Beth and Daryl away from this whole mess. **

* * *

…

"I'll be gone jus' for a couple of days," he said and it was the third time he had reminded her of it. She nodded and looked up at him with a faint smile. "And when I get back, we'll go."

"I'm going to tell Maggie today," she told him.

His face seemed impassive but she could see the corners of his mouth slowly start to be pulled down in a frown. "You don't wanna wait until I get back to do that?"

She kept smiling that small smile of hers and shook her head. "I can handle Maggie. And honestly, you being here when I tell her will just probably make her angrier."

He nodded at that but he still seemed unsure and a little reluctant. Beth lifted her hands and brushed hair back hanging in his face and then rested them on his shoulders and his eyes remained locked with hers.

She had walked with him to the front gate that morning, his bike ready and waiting to go beside them. Behind them, she could see Aaron checking the car, making sure he had all of the supplies they would need for their short trip. It was early – just past dawn – but Alexandria was full of early risers and there were people already milling around, heading from their houses to their jobs. She supposed everyone forgot what it was like to sleep in once the world ended. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten more than four hours of sleep. Even being here, within these "safe" walls, she still sat up as if keeping watch.

Slowly, keeping his eyes on her, Daryl lifted a hand and she felt his fingers brush against her hip. He always seemed to want to touch her but something always seemed to hold him back and stop him before he could. Maybe he was just scared and she wish she knew the exact words to say to him to let him know that she didn't mind. She actually wouldn't mind in the least. That out of everyone left in this world, he was the only one she actually wanted touching her.

"I'm also going to be going over everything to make sure we have what we need," she said and he nodded at that, still staring down at her with a silent intensity that made her step closer to him, her chest nearly brushing against his.

"Think I'm gonna talk to Aaron when we're out there. Let 'im know what's goin' on," Daryl said and it was her turn to nod with agreement. "Not sure how he'll take it. We've been a good team together."

Beth swallowed a sudden dry spot in her throat before speaking. "Daryl, you don't have to leave here."

She saw the shift immediately. The way his eyes went cold for a split second before going completely blank like the rest of his face. The way his body stiffened slightly. The way his fingers were instantly gone from brushing against her body.

"If you don't want me comin' with you, just say it," he said in a tense gruff voice and he made a move to take a step back but Beth wasn't going to allow it or put up with this from him either. For being the most patient man she knew, he was so quick to jump to conclusions when it came to her. She thought she understood the reason but it still could be frustrating.

"Don't be stupid, Daryl Dixon," she snapped, giving him her most stern frown, her hands tight on his shoulders. "We're partners. You and me. If we stay or if we go, we do it _together_." She said the words and realized how true they were. She couldn't leave here – not without him. If he wanted to stay, she would have to figure out a way to deal with that because she would be staying, too.

She had already survived weeks out there without him and she wasn't looking to do it again.

He was quiet for a few moments, just staring at her and not doing anything else. He then nodded his head ever so slightly and then his fingers were lightly on her hip again. She shuffled even closer to him, her arms slipping around his shoulders. She was silently surprised when he didn't jump or stiffen but he just kept looking at her and it seemed like she was the only one he wanted touching him in return.

She gave him a small smile. And not wanting to drag out this moment between them, she raised herself on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a quick yet soft kiss. He stood there and didn't move but when she slowly pulled her lips back, she felt the slightest pressure against her lips from him and when her eyes fluttered open, she saw that he was already staring at her and she smiled faintly.

"I'll see you in a couple of days," she said.

His hand went to her hip and touched her easier now than he ever had been able to before and it made her smile, leaning into him a bit more. "See 'ya in a couple of days," he returned gruffly.

It was their first kiss but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it. It was. Of course it was. And yet, it was quiet and they didn't need to make some announcement of it. That's not who they were. They weren't Maggie and Glenn or even Rick and Jessie – who were making their attraction to one another so obvious, it made Beth uncomfortable to be around either of them. They were Beth and Daryl and this was what they did. They shared soft kisses by the front gate in the early morning before Daryl left and that was what they were.

She wasn't quite ready to let him go yet and she stood on her toes again, slipping her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight. She dipped her head down and pressed her nose into the shoulder of his leather jacket and inhaling his scent and she smiled to herself when she felt his arms tightly bound around her back.

"Don't worry, Beth. I'll get him back in a couple of days," Aaron came up to them, a smile on his face.

Beth pulled her head back and both she and Daryl turned to look at the man but their arms remained around one another.

"You better, Aaron, or you'll have to answer to me," she said but Aaron just kept smiling. It seemed like even with the scars on her face, she wasn't that intimidating.

"I'm the one that usually saves his ass," Daryl said with a frown. He looked back to Beth, his arms slipping away from her waist. "Good luck with your sister."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Don't worry about me. I can handle her."

That made him smirk. "I know you can. Toughest girl I know. But still… good luck."

Beth stepped back and watched as Daryl went to his bike and Aaron went to the car and another man went to open the gate for them. Daryl didn't look back to her as he took off, the rev of the engine trembling down her spine and she stood there for she wasn't sure how long, watching through the gate until she couldn't see or hear him anymore. And when it was just her, she exhaled a deep breath.

It didn't matter that she got shot in the head and survived; survived Grady. It didn't matter that she had been out there for weeks, trying to find her family and just keep living because she had fought so hard already to live. None of that mattered because the truth was, she would probably go through all of that again if she had to if it meant that she wouldn't have to have this conversation with Maggie.

As she walked to Deanna's house, Beth already knew that it wasn't going to be much of a conversation. Maggie would yell. Probably a lot. Tell Beth that she couldn't go and would refuse to let her go as if they were still on the farm or at the prison and Maggie had any say in anything she did.

There was just no possible way that Maggie was going to take this well and it wasn't as if Beth was expecting her to. She had just come back and now she was turning right back around and leaving again.

Alexandria had running water. Food. Weapons. _Walls_. And yet, maybe she had been out there for just too long because being inside of here, she couldn't relax. She was still always looking over her shoulder but this time, it wasn't the walkers. Walkers, she understood. She knew she was to be afraid of them and she knew that she had to kill them. People, though, people were so much worse. They were either wolves or wolves in sheep's clothing pretending to be kind. She couldn't trust people anymore. None of these people – not even her family – could be trusted. Maggie, yes, but Beth could look at her and see that she was falling completely into Alexandria's spell.

There was really only Daryl. There had only been Daryl for so long. He had trained her how to survive and she had. She had made it back to him and Daryl was just like her. He didn't feel right within these walls. He didn't feel like he belonged. He never would have belonged in a place like this before and he didn't belong now. He told her a couple of nights after she had come back that if she wasn't here, if she truly was dead, he would have gone out one of these times and never come back.

Except she wasn't dead. She was alive and back and now they could leave together. She never would have guessed that after the prison fell, Daryl Dixon would truly become the only person she needed in this world.

As Beth walked down the street, she felt her lips still tingling and she rose her fingers to touch them. For a moment, she felt like any other twenty-year-old girl who had just shared a kiss with a man. She felt giggly and giddy and she wondered when she and Daryl would have their next kiss. She wondered, too, of course, what this meant. Kissing him had felt completely natural; like they had already done it a thousand times already and this wasn't only their first. She knew she would probably have to initiate the next one and the one after that. When it came to her, Daryl wasn't exactly forward. He was hesitant and cautious. She would think he was almost scared even though he would argue with her if that was what he knew she thought.

She stopped when she reached Deanna's house and she stood on the sidewalk, looking up at it. Her sister was in there, working alongside the woman in charge, and maybe this wasn't the best setting to tell her that she was leaving but she had to do this sooner rather than later and maybe with Deanna there as a witness, Maggie would be a bit more calm.

Beth nearly snorted at that. Yeah, right. Maggie calm? She took a deep breath as if preparing herself to go into battle. And maybe that was exactly what she was doing.

…

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

…

"No, Beth!" Maggie shouted at her and it seemed to be the only thing she was capable of doing right now – ever since Beth had told her, quite bluntly she admitted, that she and Daryl were going to be leaving.

Beth just stood there and let Maggie pace as if a caged again, breathing heavily, letting her do what she wanted because no matter what, it wouldn't change anything. She and Daryl were still going to be leaving. She looked over to Deanna as the woman sat on the couch and noted that the woman didn't seemed surprised in the least by Beth's announcement.

"You just got here. I just got you back!" Maggie continued. "What the hell are you and Daryl thinking? And you and Daryl? That doesn't even make sense!"

Beth frowned at that. Obviously, Maggie was only seeing what she wanted to see because to her, she and Daryl made perfect sense. But she kept quiet – for the moment – and let Maggie continue her ranting. She knew this would happen. There was no way Beth would have been able to tell Maggie that she was leaving Alexandria and have Maggie just be alright with it.

And she got it. She did. They were the only blood family the other had left. Maggie had thought she had gotten shot in the head and died but then she had come back – Daryl finding her in the woods miles away and bringing her back on his motorcycle – and Maggie thought she had her sister again.

And she did. Beth would always be Maggie's sister no matter where she was. But she kept that to herself at the moment because that wasn't what Maggie wanted to hear. Right now, the only thing Maggie wanted to hear was Beth giving in and promising her that she wouldn't leave Alexandria.

But that wasn't going to happen. Beth wasn't the same girl from before the prison fell and how did Maggie expect her to be? She loved her sister and respected her sister but she wasn't that weak young girl who just did whatever Maggie said anymore. She had been kidnapped and kept prisoner and was abused in more ways than one and was shot in the head.

But she survived. She remembered telling Daryl once that she had made it. And she had. She was here and stronger than anyone could have ever imagined her to be. Except Daryl. Daryl seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised at how tough and strong she now was.

"You are not leaving here, Beth!" Maggie shouted.

Beth finally spoke. "I'm not asking for permission, Maggie," she said. She turned her head to look at Deanna. "I'm not a prisoner here, am I?"

Deanna shook her head. "Not at all. I think you and Daryl could be important to our community but I'm not surprised in the least that you both want to leave."

"You're not?" Maggie frowned at her, finally stopping her pacing to stand in the middle of the room, her arms crossed over her chest.

"No," Deanna shook her head again. "Why are you?" She then questioned and Beth looked back to Maggie, curious of her answer.

Maggie's mouth fell open. "Why? Because we're safe here! There's walls and food and running water and no walkers!" She was shouting by the end and Beth did her best to not sigh heavily.

She looked back to Deanna. "Thank you. Daryl and I have been working on a list… if you don't want us to have anything, I understand. You have people here that you need to see to-"

"What do you have?" Deanna asked, standing up.

Beth pulled the folded piece of paper from the back pocket of her jeans and held it out for Deanna to take.

"You and Daryl have a list? How long have you been planning this?" Maggie asked.

Beth only shrugged because telling her that they had been talking about this since the night she came back wasn't probably the best move.

Deanna nodded as she read over the supplies. "I think we can manage this," she said then, smiling at Beth and handing her back the list and Beth couldn't help but sigh softly with relief. That was something else she had been worried about.

Maggie suddenly turned and stormed towards the door. "I'm telling Rick. He's never going to let Daryl go."

And with that, she left the house, the door slamming shut behind her.

The house was silent now except a ticking of a clock on the fireplace mantel and Beth looked back to Deanna to find that the woman was already looking at her. Deanna gave her another smile but it was small and warm and Beth didn't feel nervous around her as she had initially been when she had first met her for her video interview.

"I knew the instant I met Daryl that he didn't want to be here," Deanna said. "And others had mentioned you in their interviews and Daryl didn't say your name but I knew. I knew he was a man who was suffering from a profound loss."

Beth didn't know what to say to that so she remained quiet. She knew Daryl had mourned for her but she didn't know all of the details and she didn't ask, not wanting to put him on the spot. If he wanted to tell her, she knew that he would. But she didn't want to push or force him into a conversation he wasn't ready to have yet. And she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to know everything he had gone through when he had thought she was dead. She had already seen the burn scar on his hand and when she asked him about it, he had just shrugged and said he burned himself with a cigarette when he had been thinking about her.

Thinking of Daryl hurting himself, and over _her_, it made her stomach churn.

"Before you leave, would you like to see our doctor here? He might be able to do something about those scars," Deanna said.

At the mention of them, Beth lifted her hand to her cheek, touching the one there. She still couldn't get used to the scars and every time she looked at herself in the mirror, she still had trouble recognizing herself.

But even then, Beth shook her head. She didn't trust doctors anymore.

She turned her head and looked out the window as if she could see Daryl somewhere out there. He had only been gone for just a couple of hours but she wanted him back here already. She wanted to leave – desperately – and she wasn't going anywhere without him.

…

Aaron was quiet as they sat across from one another, the small fire crackling between them. Daryl didn't say anything – he had already said everything he wanted to say – and he sat there, waiting for some kind of reaction. He really had no idea how Aaron was going to take this. They had become friends in the time Daryl had been there and he had grown to both like and trust the other man and everyone knew trust wasn't something Daryl handed out freely.

Rick was like his brother but Rick was becoming a man that Daryl didn't recognize anymore. And he would always give his loyalty to Rick but what Rick was doing – and what he planned on doing – wasn't something that Daryl could get on board with. He was glad and relieved that Beth had brought up leaving Alexandria first because getting the hell out of there and staying out of there was the only thing he wanted to do ever since the group first approached the gates.

She was right though. They were a team and if she wanted to stay, he would stay but thankfully, they wouldn't be staying and in just a couple of days, they would be gone.

"I'm not surprised," Aaron finally spoke and Daryl lifted his eyes to him. "You've been wanting to leave ever since you got here." He smiled a little at that. "I thought this job would help."

"It did," Daryl said. He then shrugged. "This whole thing jus' ain't for me."

Aaron nodded then as if he understood and maybe he did. "Where are you and Beth going to go?"

Daryl shrugged again. "Been keepin' my eye out while we've been out here."

"People can't make it out here anymore," Aaron then said but Daryl only smirked at that and he shook his head slightly.

"Me and Beth can," Daryl said. He watched the fire for a moment and then looked to Aaron again. "You and Eric can come with us if you want."

Aaron smiled. "We've been inside the walls too long. We wouldn't be good living out here. We've gotten spoiled." Daryl smirked at that and looked back to the fire. "I'm happy for you, Daryl," he said and Daryl lifted his eyes to him, not saying anything. "I'm happy that you found Beth and you two can be together in any way you want."

Daryl was quiet – they both were – for a few passing minutes. "You've been a real good friend to me," Daryl told him in a low grunt, not one to express himself in such ways, but he looked up at Aaron and Aaron was smiling broadly at him.

Daryl almost wanted to smirk at himself and shake his head. If only Merle could see him right now. Or the him from a couple of years earlier. They would never believe it. Hell. The Daryl now was having a hard time believing it.

They returned after two days – just as he promised Beth – with no people found to bring back with them and it was no surprise when Maggie was there, waiting for him, her arms crossed over her chest and a pissed off expression on her face. Daryl didn't say anything to her. He just got off his bike and walked past her as if she wasn't there.

He knew Maggie. She had a hell of a temper on her and he knew she wasn't going to take this well. He wasn't expecting her to but she better not be expecting him to just stand there and let her yell at him. He heard her following behind him – stomping more like it and saying his name – but Daryl kept on walking.

"You are not taking my sister, Daryl," Maggie said.

Daryl shrugged but didn't turn around and kept on walking. "Ain't takin' her anywhere. She's the one who wants to leave."

Reaching the house he shared with Rick, Michonne, Carl, Carol and now Beth, he climbed the steps two at a time and went inside, Maggie right on his heels. He didn't see Beth downstairs and he assumed she was upstairs in her room but Rick was there, sitting on the couch in his cop's uniform and he stood up when Daryl entered.

"We need to talk," Rick said and Daryl didn't argue because he knew they had to. Maggie closed the front door but none of the three made a move to sit down. Rick glanced to Maggie and then to Daryl. "Maggie told me what Beth told her and when I spoke with Beth, she didn't deny it."

"Why would she?" Daryl asked.

"You seriously are gonna leave?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Daryl answered with hesitating.

"Daryl-" Rick began to say.

They all heard the stairs creak and turning their heads, they saw Beth coming down the stairs, Judith in her arms. The instant Beth saw him, she burst into a smile. He noticed immediately that her eyes were red as if she'd been crying and he instantly frowned at the sight of that. He knew the past two days for her wouldn't have been good ones – not if she had told everyone of their plans, which she clearly had.

"I thought I heard you," she said and came straight for him as if she didn't notice Rick or Maggie in the room with them. And if she did notice, she didn't seem to care.

She shifted Judith to one hip and then with her other arm, she slipped it around his waist, hugging him, almost holding onto him. Daryl looked down at her as she tilted her head up to look at him and his hand lightly touched her arm.

She gave him a small smile. "I'm really glad you're back," she said softly.

…

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter moves quickly and a lot happens because I honestly just want to get Daryl and Beth out of there and on their own again and I didn't want to drag it out. Once on their own, they can focus on them. **

* * *

…

Rick called a meeting which only made Daryl scowl because this had nothing to do with anyone except him and Beth and why did everyone else have to be involved? Beth seemed to be thinking the same thing, looking weary and standing close to him, her slim arms still wrapped around Judith. The kid wasn't scared of Beth's scars at all. In fact, the first time Beth and Judith were reunited after Beth returned, the little girl had squealed and pressed her face against the side of Beth's neck just as she had always done. The others had been amazed that Judith remembered Beth after all of this time and all that had happened but Daryl understood perfectly.

It was hard to forget Beth Greene.

"We ain't askin' for permission," Daryl frowned, leaning against the wall as if he was relaxed but his arms were crossed over his chest as if prepared to fight at a moment's notice.

"We should at least talk about it," Rick said.

"Why?" Beth spoke up now. "This only concerns me and Daryl."

"It concerns more than just you two," Maggie frowned at her.

"What are you two going to do out there?" Carol asked.

Beth shrugged. "Live."

"You're both not thinking clearly," Rick said.

Daryl's frown grew heavier, if possible. "We're thinkin' fine. Never wanted to come here. Only did because of Carl and Jude and I had nowhere else to go at the time."

"You still don't have anywhere to go," Carol interrupted and Daryl frowned at her.

"This place isn't good for Daryl or for me," Beth said. "We don't like it and I know you all are wanting a better answer than that but this is just as simple as that. Daryl and I don't want to stay here so we're going to leave."

"You are not leaving, Beth," Maggie said in her firmest tone.

"You have absolutely no say in anything I do, Maggie. You're not my mother or my father," Beth frowned back at her sister. "What are you going to do? Tie me down?"

"Yes," Maggie said, starting to stand up but Glenn stopped her with a hand on her arm. He looked at his wife and then to Beth and Daryl.

"We're just worried, Beth," Glenn said.

Beth stiffened at that. "You're worried? No offense, Glenn, but I don't believe a word either of you say to me anymore. If you're so worried about me, why don't you just go and hop on a bus and leave? Isn't that what you did the last time when Daryl told you I was still alive?"

The room went silent at that and Daryl could see the color draining from Maggie's face and Glenn looking down to the floor, guilt clear on his face.

"I told her," Daryl grunted though he supposed it was pretty self-explanatory.

"Bethy-" Maggie began to say.

"Just stop, Maggie," Beth cut her off, shaking her head. "You all have jobs here. You have homes and walls. You have everything you want. Daryl and me don't want it."

Daryl looked at them all. Most of them weren't saying anything because they were smart enough to realize this wasn't up to them. Michonne, also in her uniform, was leaning against the wall next to the fireplace where her samurai sword hung above the mantel. He never thought they would be able to live without her needing to have that sword constantly on her back. Daryl still slept with his crossbow on the floor beside him – no matter how "safe" they were here.

"What about Judith?" Rick spoke up and Beth looked down at the baby, shifting her in her arms, smiling faintly as Judith slapped a hand over Beth's mouth.

"You all are actin' like me and Beth are never goin' to see you again," Daryl said.

"Will you?" Carl asked.

"Hell. We're not goin' across the country. We're just not stayin' here," he said. He looked to Beth and she looked at him. He had gotten pretty damn good at reading her eyes and he knew she wanted to get out of there. Right now. He couldn't have agreed more. He looked back to the others. "This was a pretty pointless meetin'." He pushed himself from the wall. "Beth and me are gettin' our shit and we're leavin'. Ain't nothin' any of you can say to change your minds."

With that, he curled his fingers around Beth's elbow and pulled her towards the stairs. Silence followed them as he stepped aside so Beth could head upstairs first and he was behind her. Judith was still in her arms, the baby now gnawing on a piece of her hair. They went into the bedroom Beth had gotten when she arrived and Daryl closed the door behind them. On her bed, he saw that she had gotten all of their supplies and she had it laid out.

Two backpacks, two blankets. Six bottles of water, two bars of soap, a small first-aid kit, four knives – they hadn't asked for any guns, them being too loud and bullets were hard to come by anyway – cans of vegetables and fruits and tins of tuna. Peanut butter. Even packs of crackers.

"Good?" Beth asked as he looked it all over.

"Good," he nodded. "Think we should take a pair of clean socks and underwear each, too." He flipped open the first-aid kit to see what was inside. "Aspirin, too, if they have a bottle that ain't too old."

Beth nodded and looked to him as he sat down on the edge of the bed, taking one of the packs and he began loading it. "Do you think I was too harsh on Maggie?" She asked, her bottom lip working between her teeth.

Daryl wasn't surprised she was worried about that. He looked at her. "Not harsh enough," he answered honestly.

"I took a shower this morning since I didn't know the next time we would be able to bathe would be. You should take one, too, before we leave," Beth suggested and he smirked at that, standing up again.

"I don't smell, Greene," he said.

"As your travel companion, I'm requesting nicely that you take a shower," she smiled sweetly up at him and he smirked again.

She leaned into him then, pushing herself up on her toes and pressing her lips to his, Judith between both of them and the baby giggling to herself.

"That what you are?" Daryl couldn't help but ask, his voice low and quiet and his eyes staring into hers. "My travel companion?"

Beth looked up at him and he saw a slight stain of pink on her cheeks. "What do you want me to be?" She asked.

He had no idea how to answer that so he didn't say anything. He didn't know what Beth was. She was a hell of a lot more than a companion and they both knew that but he wasn't good at this. Never had been. She knew he wasn't. He didn't know how to express himself or put his thoughts into words. He knew what he looked to Beth as – she was everything – but he didn't know how the hell to say something like that.

He slowly lifted one of his hands instead and brought it to her cheek, his thumb swiping across that scar. A sudden knock on the door startled her and his hand instantly dropped.

Daryl wasn't surprised when he went to open the door and saw Rick there. The man asked the silent question and Daryl stepped back so Rick could enter the room, closing the door behind him and the three of them stood there, two staring at one and one staring in return.

"This isn't a good idea," Rick said, his hands on his hips.

"And what you and Carol got planned for this place ain't a good idea either," Daryl said. He looked to Beth and then to Rick. "You don't need me anymore, man," he then voiced what had become clear since they had all arrived there. "I'm good out there. I'm not good to anyone in here."

"We're family," Rick said in a stern voice. He looked to Daryl and then to Beth. "_All_ of us are a family," he emphasized.

Beth was the one to sigh heavily. "If you believe that, Rick, then you can come to the gate and say goodbye to me and Daryl."

And that seemed to be the end of the discussion as she kissed Judith on the head and gave her a tight squeeze before passing her to Rick's arms. She then turned to the bed and began packing the other bag and Rick and Daryl looked to one another. He knew Rick wanted to say some more things but Daryl knew that nothing he said would change either of their minds. Rick sighed softly, seeming to realize that, too.

Hours later, past noon and the sun was starting to head towards the western horizon, Daryl was at the gate, checking over the bike for a final time, making sure that everything was in perfect shape even though he had just ridden it that morning. Aaron and Eric were there, too, Aaron making sure that Daryl had the extra can of gas fastened to the back of the bike.

Beth was there, hugging Carl tightly, promising him that she and Daryl would come back to visit. She hugged Michonne next and then Carol and Sasha. Beth had heard Daryl ask Sasha if she wanted to come with them but she had shaken her head, saying she wasn't good around any people right now. She didn't know the others – Rosita, Eugene and Abraham – but she hugged them anyway. Glenn had come but Maggie hadn't and Beth didn't ask about her. She just hugged Glenn and he hugged her and whispered an apology in her ear – an apology for everything.

"We were adopting you," Eric said and Daryl smirked because he didn't know what else to do. Eric hugged him and Daryl allowed him to, patting him on the back.

Daryl and Aaron looked at one another and without a word, they embraced, hands slapping on their backs. Daryl didn't say anything. He supposed he said everything already he wanted to say to the man.

He looked to the rest of the group and took a heavy sigh before beginning his goodbyes, hugging some and shaking hands of others, and it was almost surreal to him. He had been with some of these people for so long – Rick, Glenn, Carol and Carl since Atlanta. That felt like another lifetime ago and he found himself hugging them the longest, Carol especially. There were times he looked at her and didn't recognize her anymore but she was still Carol and they had always had this unbreakable bond between them. She had tears in her eyes as she kissed his forehead.

He looked to Beth and even though she wanted to leave – was eager to leave – she held Judith in her arms and cried as she held the baby close. Daryl came to stand in front of Rick and for a moment, the two men just stared at one another.

Rick stuck his hand out. "You take care of yourself, brother," he said.

Daryl nodded, feeling a scratching at the back of his throat. He grasped his hand. "You, too," he said and then Rick pulled him into a hug and Daryl heard him release a shaky breath as if he, too, was feeling a scratch in his throat.

When he looked to find Beth, he saw her laughing as she hugged Eric and then Aaron. She wiped at her wet cheeks and nodded her head.

"I'll look out for him, I promise," she said to both of them.

Not looking back to the others, he went to Beth and the bike. "You ready?" He asked and he supposed a part of him was still waiting for her to change her mind. His heart was beating rapidly as he looked at her, just waiting for her to tell him she was staying and if she was staying, that meant he was staying, too, and just thinking about having to stay within these walls, his skin began to itch.

She looked up at him and beamed, nodding her head eagerly. "Definitely."

Daryl climbed onto the bike first, making sure his crossbow was secured in front of him across the handlebars and he looked to see Beth hurry back one more time to Rick and Judith. She kissed Judith's cheek and then Rick's.

"We'll see you again," she then said, a solemn vow, before returning to Daryl.

She hoisted her bag onto her back and then climbed behind Daryl, scooting her body close him and slipping her arms around his waist, holding onto him tightly. And when he felt her actually behind him, he felt like he could finally breathe.

He looked ahead and saw that Deanna was actually the one opening the gate for them. The woman looked at him and he looked at her and he nodded his head slightly towards her. He revved the bike and Beth tightened her arms and he didn't even hear the gate close behind them as he sped down the street.

…

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**It just needs to be Beth and Daryl at all times away from everyone else. **

* * *

…

Of course, they didn't have a plan or a destination and the longer she rode behind him as he drove the motorcycle, her arms around his waist, the longer she forgot about everything around her. She almost felt like everything was normal – and maybe this was what her definition of normal now was. Being behind Daryl on the back of his motorcycle as they rode somewhere – anywhere; just the two of them.

She didn't know how long they rode but eventually, the vibrations of the bike beneath her became too much for her and she gently pinched his stomach through his shirt, signaling to him. Daryl began to slow down and he pulled to a stop at the side of the road. Beth instantly climbed off, her legs slightly stiff, and Daryl shut the bike, turning his head to look at her.

"Everything a'right?" He asked.

She smiled and nodded. "Have to pee," she said and he smirked a little as if he should have been expecting that.

He climbed off the bike, too, grabbing his crossbow. "Gettin' closer to dark. We should find a place for the night," he said, looking around at the trees around them.

Beth nodded and taking off her back bag, she rested it on the bike's seat before taking a few steps into the trees, her fingers grazing against the hilt of her knife. She was quick to relieve herself behind a tree and she kept her ears sharp the entire time, listening for the slightest movement and keeping track of Daryl, too.

When she was finished and she stood up, zipping and buttoning her jeans again, she stepped from behind the tree and saw him still at the side of the road and she wondered why she felt relieved just from the sight of him. It wasn't as if she was expecting him to disappear. It was just him and her – the two of them – out here again and honestly, this was all she had been wanting for so long.

While in the hospital, she thought of – and missed – everyone but Daryl was the one person who was on her mind the entire time. She thought of everything he had taught her during their time together and she knew that it was because of him that she had survived the first time. And then Dawn and the bullet and everyone thinking she was dead. Being placed in a trunk as a herd approached. Being carried back into the hospital to be cared for once Dr. Edwards realized she was still breathing.

It took her two weeks to recover and then she was walking again and this time, when she left the hospital, no one stopped her. She was no longer a prisoner and she never would be again. And the entire time she spent, trying to find her family again, she thought of Daryl – hoping she would see him again; hoping she would be able to actually _talk _with him again. It had taken her aback at first just how much she missed him but the more she thought of him, it began to make perfect sense to her.

The two of them – and just the two of them – had experienced things together that no one else would ever know about or understand.

She wasn't entirely sure when it happened but he had become more than her travel companion. Definitely more and she walked to him now and he looked at her and she found herself unable to stop smiling. Once again, it was just the two of them and for the first time since getting back and seeing everyone again, she felt comfortable.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"There's a road up there," he jerked his chin in the direction up the road. "Might be somethin' around here that might help us out."

She nodded and took her bag, slipping it back onto her back. He climbed back onto the bike first, strapping his crossbow down, and she climbed behind him, her arms sliding back around his waist and holding on as Daryl took off again. He took the road he mentioned and she watched the woods zip past them in a blur. When he began to slow down again, she peered over his shoulder to see what he was seeing.

Up ahead, there was a rusted old neon sign. MOTEL. He pulled the bike into the gravel parking lot. It was a one-level place in the shape of an "L". At the very end of the short side, there was a door with a sign "Office" hanging overhead. There were then ten doors, painted once blue but had faded beneath the sunlight and no care.

Daryl stopped the bike and Beth dismounted, pulling her knife out from the sheath. She looked around and listened to how quiet it all was before looking back to Daryl, seeing him taking his crossbow in his hands.

"We'll check each room out and then pick one for the night," Daryl said and Beth nodded in agreement.

It took time. They were quick – falling right back into the routine they developed the first time it had been just the two of them – but they were careful. They moved like a dance. She knocked on the door with the hilt of her knife and then pushed it open so Daryl could sweep in first. They did that ten times plus once more in the office. They killed two walkers in the office and then one in room five and then another in room nine. The woman walker was just sitting in the bathtub of the bathroom as if waiting for the water to take back and it made Beth shiver as she shoved her knife into her head before quickly stepping out of the room again. There was no way she and Daryl would be sleeping in room nine that night.

They chose room number one for no reason. She went in first and Daryl behind her, pulling the motorcycle up right next to the door so they could get to it in a hurry if need be. They left the door open, silently agreeing that they would be taking shifts that night. She went to go check and make sure that the window in the back of the room could be easily opened in case they had to escape that way and when she turned back to the room, Daryl was sitting in a chair in front of the open doorway, clearly volunteering himself for first watch.

Beth sat down on the foot of the bed and looked around. At the television on the dresser with the rabbit-ears antennae on top. The typical motel art of gardens and ocean scenes. The somewhat hideous bedspread of a floral pattern in gold and reds. She was surprised these rooms hadn't been raided yet.

"Do you miss it?" She heard herself ask, looking to him.

He smirked and his eyes moved from looking outside to her. "We've only been gone a few hours, Greene," he replied and she felt herself smiling a little.

"_Will_ you miss it?" She clarified. She slowly leaned herself back on her elbows and kept her eyes on him.

He kept looking at her as he shrugged. "Not even a lil' bit. You gonna miss it?"

She was quick to shake her head. "Not even a little bit," she smiled and he smiled a little, too, as his eyes moved back towards outside. "Maybe we are crazy," she continued, her feet swinging back and forth and her eyes drifted up towards the ceiling as she moved her elbows and lowered herself onto her back. "Who in their right mind would want to be out here?"

He was quiet and she didn't expect him to answer but she knew he was listening. He was always listening. When they were first forced together, he had stopped speaking all together and seemed to be ignoring everything about her and she had been so angry at him all of the time and had felt like killing him more times than not. At first, she had talked constantly as a way to annoy him. She had wanted him to tell her to shut up or snap or grunt or do _something_. But he hadn't done anything and she just kept talking and one day, when she had woken him up at dawn after she had taken over watch so he could get some sleep, he stood up without a word and she followed. It was only when they stopped at a small creek and Daryl looked at her did she look at him.

"What?" She asked.

He jerked his head towards the water. "You've been goin' on and on 'bout how you want to wash yourself. So wash yourself. I'll keep watch."

Beth had just stared at him for a moment, hardly believing that he was doing something that could be mistaken for as nice towards her and not only that but hardly believing that he had actually listened. And she couldn't help but burst into a wide smile at him.

She had learned then. Daryl was always listening. At least to her. She had witnessed more than once from her short time in Alexandria that he could definitely ignore a person if he wanted to and she couldn't help but feel special that she wasn't one of them.

"Wasn' good bein' in those walls," Daryl said quietly and she turned her head, keeping herself lying down, to look at him. "And I think pretendin' that the world is just fine while living your life behind walls is crazy."

Beth agreed whole-heartedly. This wasn't their world anymore and it never would be again. It was theirs. The walkers. And they would never give it back. She understood Deanna's need to have some form of civilization back but the woman had to realize that it just wasn't possible anymore. Yes, she had built Alexandria and she had built an amazing community but the prison had been amazing, too. Things like that just weren't able to last too long anymore and for the countless time, she was relieved she and Daryl had gotten themselves out of there before something terrible happened.

"Tomorrow, we'll take a look around when it's lighter," she suggested and Daryl nodded, his eyes still watching outside. "I might take a pillow." That made him smirk and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she smiled. "It's all about the little things, Daryl," she said. "Didn't you get annoyed with my head always on your shoulder?" She asked and she made sure to keep teasing in her tone but she felt her stomach clench at his possible answer.

Daryl shrugged and his face revealed nothing. "Wasn' the worst thing," he said and it made Beth smile because for Daryl Dixon, that was as much as reciting a sonnet.

"We need to eat something," she then said, sitting up again.

She picked her pack up where she had dropped it on the floor at her feet and she took out one tin of the tuna, a sleeve of crackers and one bottle of water. They may have had a good supply of food at the moment but they had come to an agreement without ever discussing it between them that they were still going to ration it out and not gorge themselves. They didn't know how easy food and water would come to them and they were going to be smart about everything.

She stood up and taking the other chair from the table in front of the window, she dragged it over to sit across from Daryl. Using her thighs as a table, she pulled back the lid of the tuna can and then handed Daryl a cracker and took one for herself.

"Gonna rain tonight," Daryl said.

Beth crunched on her cracker and rested her knees against his. "You can smell it?" She asked while her own nose began to pay closer attention to the air.

He nodded, crunching on his own cracker. "And the wind's beginning to change direction."

She had always loved the rain but even more so now in the end of the world. Rain and storms confused walkers terribly and it helped cover up the smell of the living.

"Maybe we should head out west. Doesn't the Pacific Northwest get a ton of rain?" She asked with a smile.

Daryl smirked at that and ate another cracker. "Wherever you wanna go, that's where we'll go," he said and Beth smiled because again, for Daryl Dixon, that was practically a love declaration.

And just hearing it, Beth felt her cheeks warm and she pressed her knees a little harder against his and when he looked at her, she smiled at him and he smiled a little, too. And because she could, she pushed herself up and landed her lips on his.

…

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am writing so many stories at the same time right now but I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update this one. **

* * *

…

Aaron had slipped a map into Daryl's bag before they left Alexandria and now, the next morning while he and Beth were still in the motel room, Daryl unfolded it and they leaned in together to look it over.

"Where to?" He asked after a couple of minutes as if this was her road trip and he was just along for the ride.

He looked to her as she studied the map of the country – large and unknown – spread out before them. And then without a word, she pointed to a mass of green seemingly not that far from where they were now and Daryl stared down at it. The Appalachian Mountains. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she smiled a little, letting out a slight huff of air as if laughing, and she shrugged.

He still didn't say anything. He picked up the map and folded it so just Virginia and West Virginia were in front of him and he studied the distance, trying to figure out how far they would have to go; imagining what they would find when they got there. But if that was where Beth wanted to go, he wasn't going to argue. It was as good a place as any right now and deep down, he wanted to head back to Georgia one day. He hoped Beth would want that, too, but for now, the Appalachian Mountains it was.

Beth had found a box of trash bags in the motel's office and she made them ponchos to wear over their clothes and packs so they wouldn't be completely soaked and as the rain still fell, they headed out. Aaron had also put a compass into Beth's pack and she held it in her hands now since they couldn't rely on the sun at the moment.

She pointed in a western direction and Daryl nodded, starting up the bike, and Beth's arms winded around his waist. He took a look at the gas gauge as he drove them off and he knew they would have to siphon for gas later that day. There was a can of gas on the back of the bike that he had filled before leaving Alexandria but he always wanted to have more gas than they needed. He didn't want him and Beth to walk if they were able to help it. The bike wasn't quiet but it was fast and right now, that was better than walking around with both walkers and people alike.

His main concern right now – his _only_ concern – was keeping Beth safe no matter what that took. He was never going to let her out of his sight again. No one would ever take her from him and he was never going to lose her again. Some nights, seeing her shot right in front of him still tormented his dreams and he wasn't looking to have those become a reality again.

The rain was lessening to a drizzle by the time he stopped them about an hour later beside a rundown gas station but the clouds were still dark and low in the sky. Thunder rumbled off in the distance and he knew they would have to find some shelter for a bit to get themselves out of the incoming storm.

The pumps at the station were all rusted over, weeds growing through the cracks in the pavement, and the large front window had been smashed in. There were two cars, crashed together in front of the building and after parking their bike under the overhang, Beth climbed off, grabbing her knife immediately and Daryl swung his crossbow into his arms.

They moved to the station first though he doubted anything would be left of use. There were two walkers inside that they easily and quickly dispatched of and he stood near the front doors, keeping watch, as Beth went up and down each aisle, her eyes sharp on the lookout for anything they could take with them even though most of the place had been looted long before.

"Anythin'?" He grunted as she came to the front again.

"A very expired bottle of cough medicine but I'm taking it anyway." She held it up to show him, giving it a shake. "We didn't have anything like that in our first-aid kit even though I'm sure it's useless," she said and he nodded.

"Yeah, might as well take it," he agreed and turned, letting her put it into his pack. He faced her again. "Anythin' else?"

Beth smiled. "I don't think they're very useful but you never know," she said and with that, she held up a pair of scissors.

He looked at the pair of black-handled scissors in her hand and then to her face and she was smiling but he couldn't help but frown, not seeing any reason to smile. He didn't think it was very funny. She had gotten shot in the head because of scissors; had almost fucking _died_ because of scissors.

"Got knives," he grunted, his frown deep. "Don't need those."

He knew anything sharp could be useful against the walkers but seeing that pair of scissors in Beth's hands, he just wanted to take those damn scissors and throw them across the room. He never wanted to see a pair of scissors again.

As if she was reading his mind, her smile softened. "It's alright, Daryl," she said in a gentle voice and took her pack off her back, putting the scissors inside. "I might want to cut my hair one of these days." She looked back to him and gave him another smile. "It's alright," she said again and stood up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

He was getting used to her doing that and he liked that she seemed to be doing it more often. He wondered how she would react if he was the one to kiss her first for once. It seemed like every time they kissed, it was her who stepped forward and started it. He had to remind him that Beth liked _him_ and if she didn't mind kissing him, she probably wouldn't mind if he kissed her, too.

But not now. Now wasn't the time because he had a feeling that if he kissed her right now, he wouldn't stop and that was both stupid and dangerous. They were out in the open here and there was a storm coming and they still had to find shelter somewhere else that wasn't this piece of shit gas station. He couldn't be distracted with Beth's soft lips and her sweet taste and that barely audible moan she sometimes made when they kissed.

"We gotta find some place to go 'fore the storm comes," he said.

She nodded, not saying anything, hoisting her backpack onto her back once more and she followed him towards the doors. She gasped suddenly though and Daryl instantly turned, his crossbow aimed at the ready. Beth quickly crouched down and picked up something from the ground that her boot had kicked.

"Oh my god!" She happily held up a tin of Altoid mints. "Can you believe it?"

Daryl watched as she instantly opened back the lid and reached into the paper, pulling out a small white mint. He almost wanted to smile as she eagerly put it in her mouth and she closed her eyes and she took that first suck.

"Shoot," she sighed, looking at him again. "Flavor's pretty much gone."

She sounded so disappointed, Daryl found himself wanting to curse those mints for letting her down. It was a ridiculous reaction, he knew, and yet, he couldn't help it.

He shrugged. "Take 'em anyway. No harm in taking 'em," he said.

She smiled then a little and held out the tin towards him. He took a mint and popped it into his mouth. She was right. It really didn't taste like anything anymore but he sucked on it anyway and watched as she slipped the tin carefully into the front pocket of her pack.

He reached out before he could stop himself and his thumb swiped across the scar on her cheek. She looked at him and gave him one of the softest, prettiest smiles he had ever seen and it made him feel as if he had just been socked right in the chest and all of the air left his lungs in a great rush.

But then he heard a rumble of thunder getting closer and he looked to Beth.

_Keep her safe, keep her safe_.

He said it over and over in his head like one of his mama's old skipping records. He knew Beth could take care of herself. She had proven that more than probably anyone left in this world but she was back now and Daryl was going to keep her with him no matter what.

And that meant he had to stop being distracted by her.

"Come on," he jerked his head out the door.

They didn't have time to siphon for gas like he wanted. The wind was picking up and the storm was getting closer, the rumbles of thunder getting closer together. He took the gas can on the side of the bike and filled the tank with some of it – not all of it – and he looked around as he did. The storm was coming in from the north so he could keep taking them west.

"Keep your eyes out for a place we could hole up in," he told her and Beth nodded, quickly fixing her ponytail before she climbed onto the bike behind him.

As soon as he felt her arms around his waist, he took off, heading down the road in the western direction, feeling the wind and the rain drops and he easily steered the bike around a couple of walkers that had stumbled into the road. He kept his eyes open but there seemed to be nothing but trees on either side of the road. No buildings. No shelter of any kind.

He swiftly cursed himself. They should have stayed at the gas station. It was falling down around them but at least the roof had been mostly intact. Or they should have just stayed at the motel for another day. He had been in such a hurry to put some distance between them and Alexandria and why? Now they were out in the rain and what would happen if Beth got sick? It seemed like no matter what he did, he wasn't able to keep this girl safe and keeping her safe was the only thing he wanted to do.

The wind howled and screamed in his ears and he pushed the bike to go faster. There had to be somewhere they could stay for a few hours just until the storm passed and they could get themselves dry.

"Daryl!" Beth suddenly shouted into his ear over the wind.

He immediately began to slow down just a bit and saw her pointing up ahead. He looked and saw it, too. A fence. A tall iron wrought fence. He had no idea what it was surrounding but a fence nowadays was almost as good to find as a safe roof. He slowed down more as they neared it and he saw the headstones within the overgrown grass that grew on the other side of the fence.

Blessed John Licci Cemetery. *

A fucking cemetery.

He almost didn't stop. There was no way they were going into a cemetery. The last time they were in one, Beth had gotten taken and the next time he saw her, she was getting shot in the head. No. No way was he taking Beth anywhere near this place.

But she pinched his stomach almost too harshly and he sighed, slowing down and then coming to a stop in front of the gates. They were locked with a heavy chain and Daryl took a look at the lock, almost rusted through and pretty much useless. Without a word, Beth took her knife from the sheath and handed it to him.

He worked on it for a few minutes, working the knife carefully in the lock, as Beth stood guard, holding another of the knives, her eyes looking for any movement from anything. The storm was moving in and past the gate, he saw a small house at the end of a gravel drive. Probably where the groundskeeper had once lived. Hopefully, the groundskeeper still wasn't there. He told himself that it was just for a few hours. Until the storm passed and it was safer to move on.

The lock snapped open and Daryl instantly shoved on the gate, it rusted and letting out a high-pitched scream on its hinges. Beth moved in first and Daryl moved behind her, wheeling the bike in. He instantly closed the gate again behind them and he and Beth stood there, looking around. Nothing but tall trees and crumbling headstones and there were no noise except the whistling wind blowing through the tree leaves.

They took a moment, looking around. The cemetery was a medium size – probably half a football field – and his eyes quickly scanned the area. The fence appeared to still be standing all around it but he couldn't tell if there were any weaknesses without walking the entire length of it. He'd do that as soon as he got Beth into the house. The house. His eyes instantly cut over to it. Beth was looking at it, too, her fingers clasping around the hilt of her knife.

She looked at him and gave him a faint smile. "Looks cozy," she said.

Daryl didn't say anything; just kept looking at the house and frowning. He really hated being in this cemetery; he didn't care if it had a fence surrounding it or not. He hated cemeteries – especially with Beth standing in it with him.

He clasped the crossbow in his hands. "If it's too clean in there, we're gettin' the hell out of here," he told her.

She didn't argue. She just nodded and gave him another small smile.

…

* * *

** * Blessed John Licci is the patron saint of head injuries.**

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This story was never meant to be a long one. Probably just about ten chapters. I really just wrote it to get Daryl and Beth on their own again away from everyone else. I'm going to focus on this story and finish it up and then get back to _The White House_ and see what new story comes after that. An idea struck me last night that I'm going to start mapping out and seeing if it will work. Thank you!**

* * *

…

Inside, it felt as if the house was covered in an inch of dust and Beth heard herself sigh softly in relief when both she and Daryl saw that. It looked as if no one had been in the house for years, everything sitting there in silence, undisturbed as if waiting for someone to return.

After banging on the front door's frame and waiting a moment, they heard a shuffling coming down the hallway from the back of the house, and a walker of a man headed their way, his eyes milky white as he focused on them and his mouth open as if ready to take a bite, letting out his hungry growls. Before he could get any closer, Daryl fired his crossbow, a bolt flying and hitting the walker between the eyes. It fell with a heavy thud, a cloud of dust flying up from the floor, and it tickled Beth's nose. She turned her head and sneezed into the crook of her arm and they stood there, waiting for another moment, but it seemed like that was the only one.

Daryl stepped in first, Beth right behind him, and she took the flashlight out of her bag, turning it on as she closed the front door behind them. The wind was picking up outside and they could hear it colliding with the walls of the house. It creaked like any old house would and it was cold like one, too. Beth felt herself shiver involuntarily when she heard the first rain drops hit the roof above their heads.

She shined the light past Daryl's shoulder, lighting the way as they first went to the living room to the right of the front door, Daryl leading the way as they swept through the room. Everything was covered in at least an inch of dust and Beth realized that it made her breathe a little easier even as her nose began to tickle again. It looked like no one had been in here for a very long time and that was all she cared about. There was an upright piano against the far wall and her fingers itched to brush along the keys but she didn't dare until they checked the rest of the house.

The house was small – a kitchen and living room on the first floor and then upstairs, a bathroom and one bedroom. It took no time in clearing it out and they paused when they were back on the main floor, standing at the top of the stairs that led into the cellar, Beth shining the flashlight down into the thick darkness.

Daryl exhaled a deep breath and he looked to her. "Hold it a little higher," he said and she did as he said, her eyes watching him.

It was obvious he wasn't looking forward to doing this and she didn't blame him. This was never their favorite thing to do – having to explore the black basements of whatever house they were holed up in for the night but it was something that always had to be done.

"Want me to go first?" She offered.

"Yeah," he answered without hesitation, his eyes going to her and she noticed a slight smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Already got shot in the head. Would seem to me you're damn near invincible."

She felt a giggle bubbling in her throat and she couldn't help but smile a little proudly at that. She couldn't really remember it exactly. Only a searing pain and then darkness and now, sometimes, she would get the worst headaches but the thing she knew for certain was that she had survived. She had lived.

She had made it.

And she knew she had just fallen in love with Daryl Dixon a little bit more right then and there because even though she knew he was trying to joke around and make the situation a little bit lighter, she knew that while he didn't really think she was invincible, she knew he thought she was tough. And Beth didn't realize how important that was to her to have him know that then that very moment.

"I _will_ go first if you want me to," she said, her eyes unable to leave his.

He gave his head a slight nod. "I know you will. But I'll go first. Don't wantcha to forget that I'm brave, too," he said, his lips twitching again, and she laughed softly.

They both knew there wasn't a walker down there. They had been making too much noise at the top of the stairs to go unnoticed but they still moved down the stairs cautiously, Daryl leading the way and Beth right behind him, her knife clasped in one hand and the flashlight in her other, shining over Daryl's shoulder and spreading a thin beam through the darkness that threatened to swallow them.

As suspected, the basement was void of any walkers and once Daryl deemed it to be all clear, Beth began sweeping the light around slower, taking it all in. Just dust and cobwebs and some old wooden shelves. She stepped closer to those, seeing a few glass jars lined up. She sheathed her knife and then picked up one jar, swiping her thumb over the dust that was so thick, she couldn't see what was inside.

"Daryl!" She gasped, nearly dropping the jar once she did see the contents.

"What?" He was instantly at her side.

"Pickles! Look, pickles!" She eagerly handed him the jar and then quickly looked to the others. "Apple slices but those have gone bad… another jar of pickles… oh my goodness, beets, too!"

"Beets?" He echoed.

"You don't like beets?"

He shrugged. "Never tried 'em before."

"They're good. Have the same vinegar taste like pickles almost. When I was a kid, I had never tried them before because yuck, beets. Kids are supposed to hate beets. But then, once, momma had cut them up so small and had slipped them into a salad and I never knew it and just ate them all up." She felt herself smiling faintly at the memory of her momma laughing in the kitchen as Beth said that the salad was delicious and asking her what she had put in it.

She handed Daryl the flashlight so she could take the three jars in her arms and they left the cellar, heading for the first floor again. Daryl made sure the back door was secure and then checked the front door and despite the rain now pouring down, he opened the window in the living room that overlooked the back of the house a sliver so they could get out in a hurry if they had to.

No matter what though, if they had to run, he wouldn't tell her to run ahead and he would meet up with her.

"Wanted to go check that fence," Daryl said as he stood at the front window, looking out though he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him through the rain.

"Don't worry," Beth said as she settled herself down on the floor in front of the empty fireplace. She took off her trash bag poncho and draped it over the piano bench. "The rain will confuse them and they can't smell us through it. And even if they could, we have a walker in here with us that will throw them off even more. We'll be fine for a few hours," she smiled up at him and held up the jar of beets as if they were back in that shack and she was offering him moonshine all over again. "Come and open this like the big strong man you are," she then teased him.

Daryl smirked and left the window to come lower himself on the floor beside her, also taking off his trash bag poncho and putting it beside hers on the bench. He took the jar and easily twisted the top off.

"You must 'ave loosened it for me," he smirked and she just smiled.

"Try one," she then urged him, sitting on her knees, looking eager.

He slipped his fingers into the jar as the whiff of vinegar hit him and he pulled out one of the dark red discs. Without a word, he bit off a mouthful and was surprised when it still crunched between his teeth.

"Well?" Beth asked after a moment of him chewing and then swallowing.

"They ain't terrible," he shrugged while reaching in for another one.

Beth smiled as if they were her very own beets and she had never received a higher compliment. He held the jar out to her and she took it, pulling out her own beet. He settled himself against the couch behind him and Beth slipped herself between his legs, nestling her back against his chest. For a moment, he wasn't too sure what to do with his hands before he rested them on her thighs.

Beth ate two beets before he reached into the jar in her hand for another for himself.

"Hopefully, the rain will stop by tomorrow morning and we can take a look around," she said, resting the back of her head against his shoulder. "Might not be a bad place for a little bit. It already has a fence and it's small so we could easily manage it."

"What about headin' to the mountains?" Daryl asked.

She shrugged. "That was just giving us somewhere to go. Didn't want us to wander. If you want to go to the mountains, we can definitely go."

It was his turn to shrug. "Might not be a bad idea. Them people in Appalachia, they're all pretty damn self-sufficient. Pretty much cut off from the rest of the world for the most part. Prob'ly have some useful stuff for us."

Beth didn't say anything to that but she nodded. She held the jar in between her hands but didn't eat any more.

"We promised everyone we would come back to visit," she said after a moment.

Daryl was quiet, not knowing what to say. He then cleared his throat, suddenly feeling thirsty and he knew they should probably collect some of the water falling outside. They had water but he knew all too well that the water would run out.

"We can head back if you want," he heard himself say.

Beth instantly turned her head to look at him. "No."

The word was said quietly and yet, there was a firmness to it and he recognized that tone. The "don't mess with me" tone. The tone that made her eyes light up with a blaze. He loved seeing that fire. He loved knowing that Beth Greene didn't put up with shit – especially from him.

"I don't ever want to go back, Daryl," she said.

He swallowed again. "Me, neither." He paused and his hands began rubbing her thighs before he even realized it. Once he did though, he didn't stop it. "Never felt comfortable there since the day we got there. Everyone took their showers and Rick cut his damn beard off but I didn't wanna do that. 's not good to smell clean anymore and they were all actin' like those walls were always goin' to be standin'."

"You think it's not going to last?" Beth asked quietly. She shifted against him, as if trying to move in even closer to him.

"You know just like me, Greene," he responded. "Nothin' lasts anymore."

"You and me, we're lasting," she then said in a quiet voice, almost in a whisper, and she moved her face a little closer towards his as she did.

Daryl turned his head, looking down to her face, his eyes instantly falling into hers and he found himself wanting to say all sorts of things to her. Things he didn't know if he would ever be brave enough to say because when it came to things like this – with her – it didn't matter that they got a second chance; that _he_ got a second chance to say anything to her. He wasn't nearly as brave as Beth Greene.

Her nose brushed lightly against his chin and he felt himself shiver that he knew had nothing to do with the cold of the room. He lifted a hand then, his large hand cupping her small cheek, his thumb running along her scar, and he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her first. For a split second, he wondered if he shouldn't have done that but then he felt Beth instantly responding, her lips pressing back against his, her hand lifting and snaking to the back of his head, fingers gripping his hair. His own hand slipped from her cheek, curving around the back of her neck, holding her tight and close. She moaned softly as he opened his mouth against hers and coaxed hers to open, too, before he slipped his tongue inside to meet hers.

He never would have guessed that vinegar was the sweetest damn thing he had ever tasted in this world.

…

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

…

Beth woke up to birds chirping and her eyes fluttered open to see the room bright with sunshine. She was on the floor of the living room, on the dusty ornate rug, and during the night, Daryl had covered her with one of the blankets.

She sat up slowly and looked around, noting immediately that Daryl wasn't there. She stood up and folded the blanket and looked out the window. Clear blue skies and a bright shining sun and it was looking to be a beautiful day. She stood for a moment and perked her ears, listening for Daryl and she heard something on the second floor, her head tilting up to look to the ceiling.

She unsheathed her knife and headed towards the stairs. She knew it was Daryl but she couldn't be too careful. There was no such thing as _too careful_ nowadays. She knew it wasn't a walker and she knew it probably wasn't another person who had snuck into the house during the night but it was still _something_ making the soft noise and until she saw Daryl with her own two eyes, she would leave her knife out.

Daryl was in the bedroom, standing in front of the open closet door.

"Hey," she said not too loudly to surprise him though she knew that he had probably already heard her coming up the stairs.

"Here," he grunted, turning to look at her. "Take this."

She instinctively put her hands out and caught what he tossed to her across the room. A shirt fluttered into her grasp and she held it up. Red and black plaid long-sleeve flannel that smelled like mothballs.

"Gonna be cold before we know it," he said and she nodded in agreement.

"Anything else?" She asked, crossing the room and stepping up beside him, looking into the closet. She saw a shoebox on the floor that had fallen from the top shelf and must have been the noise she had heard a few minutes earlier.

"Couple more flannels. We'll take 'em all. And a sweater. Prob'ly too small for me but it'll fit you," he said, handing her the clothes as he mentioned them.

She looked through the other clothes. Most were dress shirts – button downs – that she didn't want to take, using space in her bag and weighing her down. Daryl's arms were stretched up and he was looking through the shoe boxes on the top shelf. She smiled as he pulled out a small bundle of money he had found and slipped it into the back pocket of his pants. She knew money was good to start fires with but she could only think of _that_ night and by the slight pull of his lips, she knew he was thinking the same thing.

He pulled a shoe box down and peeked inside and when he did, he smirked a little.

"Here, Beth," he said without telling her what it was and he handed her the box.

She took it almost cautiously and when she looked inside, she nearly dropped it.

"Oh my gosh!"

She gasped, the lid falling back to the floor and she stared inside, hardly able to believe it. A Hershey chocolate bar. An actual chocolate bar. Just lying there as if it had been waiting for them; as if it was the Holy Grail and it might as well have been for the way she felt her heart beating in her chest as if they had truly just discovered the last great thing in this world.

She took the chocolate bar out, holding it as carefully as a newborn chick, and she looked up at Daryl. Without a word, she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him. It was meant to be just a short kiss but the moment her lips touched his, she felt herself sag against him. And it wasn't as if Daryl was pushing her away. His hands lifted – one resting on her back, pressing her against him and the other curved along her face. She had noticed this and was so glad with the development; the ease he now expressed when kissing her and touching her.

She supposed there were still things they needed to talk about. Things that had been unsaid except for one syllable words that didn't say nearly enough. And yet, she wondered if they really did need to say anything. She knew it was fairly obvious. They had left the safest zone they had ever seen together and were staying together and it was just the two of them again. Beth had made herself ragged – and had pushed Daryl, too – to find any of their family but once she had seen them all again, she realized that the only one she really wanted to be around anymore was Daryl.

And it was that way for him, too. He hadn't even hesitated in leaving their family when she admitted that she didn't want to stay and he didn't say it but he didn't have to. She knew. Anywhere one of them went, the other would go. It was as she told him. They were partners. They were together and that was that.

Daryl's lips were suddenly gone and Beth's eyes snapped open to look at him. She saw the look on his face and recognized it well. He heard something. His body was still and his head was tilted slightly as he listened to some noise still too distant for her own ears. She wanted to ask him what it was but she stayed quiet, practically holding her breath and clutching the chocolate bar perhaps a little too tightly.

His eyes cut to her then. "Is your stuff packed?" He asked in a lowered voice.

"I just have to pack the blanket and the jars," she whispered.

"Go," he said.

She didn't question him. She hoped there would be time for that later. She turned and took the clothes and chocolate bar and hurried out of the room, her steps light and quiet, not sure what he heard or how close it was. Daryl was right behind her and he stood at the front door, crossbow loaded and waiting in his hands, as Beth packed their bags as quickly as she could.

"Your bike," she hissed to him.

He shook his head, never taking his eyes off the small window next to the door. "Got up early this morning and moved it to the back so no one could see it."

She sighed a little with relief at that and stood up, hoisting her pack onto her back.

"I'm ready," she whispered to him.

She heard it then, too. Voices. More than one. Male.

She froze.

From across the room, she could see Daryl's entire body tense and his hands curl tighter around the crossbow.

"How many?" She asked, the words clumping in her throat and her heart freezing in her chest.

"'m countin' six. Might be more," Daryl said and then put his finger to his lips as the voices grew closer.

Beth felt like she couldn't breathe. The blood roared in her ears and her chest ached as her heart clenched within it. Six men. Could she and Daryl handle six men if they had to? It depended. What sort of weapons did those men carry? Was is possible to sneak up on them and take them by surprise if they had to?

She had to see them. She edged herself closer to Daryl and peeked through the curtains of the front window. Six men. A pack walking down the street, coming up to pass right past the cemetery. The man in front – obviously the leader – was a big man. Bigger than Daryl. A baseball bat swinging casually in his hand. Beth wasn't sure why but the sight of that bat made everything inside of her go cold.

"Le's go," Daryl whispered, taking her arm gently but his fingers flexed around her, and he nudged her towards the back window he had left open.

Beth looked at him, her mouth open, ready to say something; to protest.

"I'm right behind you," he said, reading her mind.

He took his own pack and swung it onto his back and he went to the window, pushing it as open as it could be.

"Quiet," he then said as if she needed reminded.

She hefted one leg over the ledge and then the other, dropping herself quietly to the ground below. She stepped back and watched as Daryl climbed out beside her. It was a cool morning and she rubbed her arms, feeling herself begin to shiver almost violently. Daryl looked at her and stepped close.

"Beth," he said her name and she lifted her eyes to him. "It'll be fine," he told her.

And she knew that he couldn't possibly promise that or say that and know for sure. Nothing in this world was ever fine. But Daryl saying that and his eyes staring into hers, it was exactly what she needed to hear because with Daryl saying that, she believed him. She would always believe him because she knew that Daryl would do whatever he had to do to keep her safe.

And she hoped that Daryl know that she would do the same to keep him safe, too.

One of the men in the pack let out a laugh then, it cracking into the morning air like a sudden bolt of lightning, and it made her shiver again.

"Shhhhh," Daryl said in a low voice and then pushed her gently on the hip. "See those big headstones over there?"

She followed the jut of his chin and saw the large granite stones right along the fence at the back of the cemetery. She nodded.

"Go towards 'em. Stay low."

Beth nodded again and then dropped to the ground. The grass was wet from the storm yesterday and she felt it soak through the knees of her jeans as she began crawling. She looked back to see that Daryl, again, was right behind her.

She crawled and any second, she expected one of those men to spot her; to point and call out and she would have nowhere to run. But even though she heard the voices get closer, they didn't stop, and she was able to crawl behind the headstone, instantly shrinking herself behind it and making herself as small as possible, hugging her knees to her chest.

Daryl did the same next to her, drawing his knees up, pressing himself beside her and behind the stone and the bow was tight in his hands. She told herself that she had to breathe because having a panic attack right now wouldn't help her or Daryl and Daryl sat, not moving, only the occasional muscle in his jaw twitching, as he listened to every sound that those pack of men made.

One of them called out to another. "Negan!"

And her heart stopped completely, wondering if she and Daryl had been spotted but there were no sounds the men made to indicate that they were stopping.

It felt like hours but Beth could hear it, too. Slowly, it all faded, growing more and more distant, the men going off into the direction that they had come from yesterday. Eventually, all she could hear was the gentle breeze blowing and the birds chirping their light songs from the tree branches above. Even then, neither of them moved though Daryl did slowly stretch his legs out in front of him.

Beth exhaled a deep breath she had been holding and she dropped her head to the side, resting it on Daryl's hard shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked.

She nodded but didn't say anything. "Just waiting for my heart to slow down again." She rubbed her chest then as if that would help. "Are you okay?" She asked and lifted her head so she could look at his face as he thought of the question.

He nodded his head once. "As long as you are."

And despite the still rapid beating of her heart, she smiled faintly at his answer.

She tilted her head up and looked at the way the sun filtered in through the leaves. She had woken up just a little bit ago, thinking of how beautiful the day was going to be. And the sun was still shining and the sky was still blue but that beauty was gone now. It never stayed for too long nowadays.

They still made no move to leave behind the headstone. Beth brought her bag and settled it between her knees, unzipping it. She took out a package of the saltine crackers and she popped onto her mouth before offering them to Daryl. He shook his head but she kept them held out to him.

"You need to eat breakfast, Daryl," she said. "Most important meal of the day. And we have a long way to go today."

Daryl looked at her as he took a cracker. "We do?"

"I thought we were heading towards the mountains," she reminded him, taking another cracker for herself. "I'd rather get there sooner rather than later."

He nodded. "A'right. We'll head out soon."

She felt her heart slow down a little bit more, returning almost to normal now.

She didn't have to say that she wanted to go so they could put some distance between them and whoever those men had been. Daryl already knew. She was so sick and tired of bad people. Wasn't the world bad enough with the dead walking around without having to be terrified of the living, too? There was her family still in Alexandria but Daryl was really the only person left in this world who she completely trusted and she knew he trusted her, too.

Beth didn't know how it was going to be in the mountains for them. She didn't know who or what they would find or if they would even be able to stay. She didn't know if this was going to be a huge mistake or if they should have just stayed in Alexandria.

But all she did know was that as long as she was with Daryl, things would at least have the possibility of being okay again.

…

* * *

**Thank you very much to those reading and reviewing and please review this one! One more chapter left and I have already begun it. **


	10. Chapter 10

**I can now move this story into my completed pile. Thank you for supporting this little story of mine. **

* * *

…

He woke up and was surprised to see that the room was already bright with the morning light. And she wasn't next to him in the bed anymore. The place that were staying in – had been staying in – was small and just one room and as soon as he lifted his head from the pillow, he saw her standing at the fireplace, stirring something in a pot she had hanging over the flames.

Daryl yawned and sat up, digging the heels of his hands into his eye sockets and he then looked at her again. Beth turned her head and looked at him, giving him a smile, standing up straight. She was wearing that plaid flannel shirt and her jeans, her hair braided and pulled over her shoulder.

"Good morning," she said.

"Mornin'," he grunted, pulling himself out of bed. He grabbed his shirt from the back of the chair it had been tossed over the night before and he tugged it on.

She went back to the pot on the stove and resumed stirring whatever she was cooking. He could tell it wasn't food though. He shuffled to the kitchen area on the other side of the room and poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the counter. He chugged it down and then went to the front door, unlocking the several locks they had installed after they had first found this place and he opened the door, feeling the chill of the end of autumn, the beginning of winter stinging against his skin. He grabbed his crossbow and stepped outside.

People in Appalachia had been poor before the world ended and the house he and Beth had found was nothing more than a one-room cabin – a tight space but he preferred it that way. They didn't need something huge for just the two of them and he liked having Beth close. A small space was easier to protect, too.

They had no neighbors nearby and nothing surrounded them except trees. They had dug pits all around the house when they had arrived and strung cans up around the front and back porches and it wasn't much but – and he couldn't be sure of time anymore – it had been a while since he had seen anything. A living person or a dead walker. Sometimes, it felt like he and Beth were the only two left in the world.

There was a small stream behind the house that wasn't deep or wide but it was lucky to have a water supply so close and Beth was happy that they were able to bathe and do laundry and always have a basin of water inside the house. He wished there was some fish big enough to bother catching but he wasn't going to be picky.

Daryl took a piss into the water, always pissing downstream, and he made a circle around the house, checking the pits, making sure that nothing had stumbled into them during the night.

He heard a rustling nearby and he immediately aimed his crossbow towards it, waiting to see what would emerge. When a moment later, an opossum presented himself and Daryl looked at it for a second before swinging the crossbow onto his shoulder. They didn't need it. He had gotten them a couple of rabbits the day before and for him and Beth, that was enough meat for the time being.

He came around to the back porch again where Beth stood, taking some of the wildflowers she had picked and had hanging, drying out.

"I'm making some soap with the rabbit fat from yesterday," she informed him.

"I figured," he nodded, remembering when some of the women back at the prison would do the same thing with the animal carcasses he had brought back. "You gotta make it smell like a flower?"

"Yep," she smiled and with that, she took the flowers back inside.

Daryl took one final look around the back perimeter before following her, closing and locking the several locks of the door behind him.

It had been pure luck that they had found this place. After staying hidden behind that tombstone for a couple of more hours and after making sure that they were absolutely alone again and that the group of men was nowhere near them, they gathered their belongings again, climbed onto the bike and didn't look back as Daryl drove them as fast and far as he could, heading east towards the mountains.

Once they reached the mountains though, there was no other plan. Getting there had been the extent of their discussions. There were a few houses at the base of one of the mountains but they both agreed that they wanted to be further up; further in; each of their minds still on that group of men – especially the large one walking in front with the baseball bat in hand.

So they went up and up, taking one random road and then another and another, twisting themselves higher and deeper and not stopping until they saw nothing but trees. The canopy of leaves was so thick above them, they couldn't even really see much of the sky, and Beth had gotten off the bike and looked upwards, smiling faintly to herself.

She then looked to Daryl and he looked at her and he smiled a little, too.

The house they found was down a dirt path that had long been taken over by vegetation again and Daryl couldn't imagine anyone ever finding them here. He thought of their family; of how he and Beth promised they would visit and maybe, one day, they would return to Alexandria to see all of them again but for the time being, it was as if they were in their own world up here and neither were acting restless, like they wanted to return to the world below again.

It was as good up here as it could be. They had a roof over their heads and water nearby and a fireplace for heat. The cabin hadn't had electricity before and even if it had, it wasn't as if they could use it now. They had become accustomed to living a life without electricity. They had gotten used to having it at the prison and for the short time they were in Alexandria but Daryl didn't miss it now that they didn't have it again and as Beth liked to say, people for thousands of years had lived without electricity and they had lived just fine. They could live just fine, too.

And they were.

The first few days there, there had been a few walkers – people leftover from the nearby area – and they both had easily and quickly taken them down. They raided the house and found a shovel and a hoe in a closet and began digging the trenches. They may have been in the middle of nowhere but they weren't going to rely on that. They weren't going to allow themselves to think they were lucky and get comfortable. They had learned that if they thought they were safe, that was when everything went to hell.

There were no people and few walkers. Their life here was quiet but they were still on alert. Always on alert. He still slept with his shoes on most nights and even in the house, Beth wore her knife on her belt. He didn't think either of these habits would ever be broken. And he would think of their family back in Alexandria and how comfortable they had been getting behind those walls. He wondered if Carol and Rick had taken it over yet.

He wondered if they were all alright.

But he didn't think of the family as much as he used to. He didn't know how long he and Beth had been gone now but it was just the two of them and he wanted it that way. He had grown to not mind the first time they were all on their own and the instant she was taken from him, he realized that he would give anything to have that again. Yes, the others were his family and they always would be but Beth… Beth was something else – something more – and she had been for a while now.

Daryl still sometimes woke up in a panic, breathing sharp and shallow and his eyes would dart to the spot next to him in bed, his heart not slowing down until he saw her beside him. He sometimes reached out, unable to help himself, and rested a hand on her chest so he would be able to feel her heart still beating.

Beth was still alive and still right there with him.

And she wasn't going anywhere.

Inside, Beth resumed work on making the soap and Daryl sat down at the small table in one of the chairs and began working on the additional bolts he was in the process of making. It was a quiet morning and it usually was between them. They had fallen into a routine with one another just as they had their first time on the road together and being together again, it was as if no time had passed at all.

Except this time was different. They weren't constantly moving, trying to find any traces of their family. This time, they had found a place and were staying put. They knew where their family was and if Beth looked at him one day and told him that she wanted to get back to them, Daryl wouldn't argue. He would just pack up their stuff and load the bike up for the ride back.

But he knew that was never going to happen. Something had happened to Beth in that hospital – long before she got shot in the head. She was like him. No longer comfortable trapped within walls surrounding her. Daryl knew they would stay in these woods, up on this mountain, for as long as they could. He hoped forever.

"Smells like it could start snowin' any day now," Daryl spoke. "Gonna wanna make a few more preparations before winter's here."

"How much snow do you think we'll get?" Beth asked.

He shrugged. "Not sure. Prob'ly 'nough to make life a little difficult."

Beth smiled at that. "We're used to that," she joked lightly and wiped an arm across her forehead, small beads of sweat gathering from standing so close to the fire. "What do you want to do?"

"Go on one last run. See 'bout maybe gettin' more canned stuff."

She nodded in agreement. "Alright. And if possible, I want to find a hat. I miss hats," she then said and smiled faintly. "Can help cover up some of these scars."

Daryl stopped in his work and lifted his eyes to look at her. She had scars, yes, but he didn't even notice them anymore. They were just a part of her. Just like all of his scars did, Beth's scars showed that she had _survived_. She was alive and still here and the scars were just a part of her now. One of his favorite things to do now was brush his thumb along that scar on her cheek.

He didn't say any of that though.

Instead, he echoed the same sentiment Eric had said to her months before.

"What scars?" He grunted.

And Beth smiled at that and came to him. She bent down and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. She released a soft sigh and rested her forehead to his. He set aside his knife and the bolt he was whittling and slid his hands over her hips, pulling her closer. Beth smiled at him and sat herself down in his lap, her arms around his shoulders.

"We should get a couple more blankets, too, if we can find them," she said.

He nodded. "And I'll start choppin' more wood. Just to have more around."

She leaned into him, her eyes sliding shut, and her nose nuzzling affectionately against his cheek. Daryl turned his head into hers and his hand slid up her back to the back of her neck, his lips meeting hers. Her fingers threaded through his hair and she kissed him back and Daryl didn't want to think they were perfectly safe but he knew that they were making themselves a nice little life up there; a nice a life as any was possible now in this shit world. And he knew he was lucky because he was the only guy left in this world to have an actual bit of the sun living with him and kissing him and whispering his name as she pressed herself closer to him.

He was never going to leave this place unless something forced them from it. And even then, he would die to keep himself with Beth. He was never going to lose her again. He had barely survived the first time he had lost her and he wasn't looking to go through something like that ever again.

They both stopped and froze when they heard the rattling of the cans strung along the front porch.

Beth instantly removed herself from his lap and drew her knife out and Daryl stood up, grabbing hold of his crossbow.

He pointed a finger at her. "Stay," he said and she frowned at him.

He didn't care though. He didn't care that she was the toughest girl he knew and could obviously take care of herself. He was always going to put himself first and do everything to keep her safe. She could frown all she wanted.

He went to the door, crossbow up and ready, and listened for a moment. He didn't hear the groaning of a walker though or the breathing of a person. Slowly and cautiously, he opened the door a crack and peeked outside.

He stared for a moment and still cautiously, he pulled open the door a little wider to get a better look. And once he did, once he looked around, his sharp ears hearing nothing else except the soft breeze blowing and chirping birds, he knew that no one was there. He looked for another moment and then opened the door wider and Beth gasped behind him, seeing what had rattled the cans on their doorstep.

"A dog," she breathed and even with her behind him, he could hear her smiling.

The dog was standing there, cautious but his tail wagging slowly, as he looked at them.

Daryl took one last look around, crossbow still ready in his hands to be used just in case, but it seemed as if the dog had stumbled upon them much as they had stumbled upon this place. Luck.

And then Beth was beside him and he saw that she had gotten a bit of the rabbit meat. She crouched down and held her hand out.

"Come here, baby," she cooed to it in a gentle voice and the dog took a cautious step forward. "It's really good meat. I promise."

The smile didn't leave her face as she watched the dog and Daryl watched her.

He smiled a little, too.

…

**The End.**

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


End file.
